Baltimore, Mar 27: A cargo ship lost power and rammed into a major bridge in Baltimore early on Tuesday, destroying the span in a matter of seconds and plunging it into the river in a terrifying collapse that could disrupt a vital shipping port for months. Six people were missing and presumed dead, and the search for them was suspended until the next day.
The ship's crew issued a mayday call moments before the crash took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge, enabling authorities to limit vehicle traffic on the span, Maryland's governor said.
The ship struck one of the bridge's supports, causing the structure to collapse like a toy. A section of the span came to rest on the bow of the vessel, which caught fire.
In the evening, Col Roland L Butler Jr, superintendent for Maryland State Police, announced that the search and rescue mission was transitioning to one of search and recovery. He also said the search was being put on pause and divers would return to the site at 6 am on Wednesday, when challenging overnight conditions are expected to improve.
The crash happened in the middle of the night, long before the busy morning commute on the bridge that stretches 2.6 kilometres and was used by 12 million vehicles last year.
The six people still unaccounted for were part of a construction crew filling potholes on the bridge, said Paul Wiedefeld, the state's transportation secretary.
A senior executive at the company that employed the workers said Tuesday afternoon that they were presumed dead, given the water's depth and the length of time since the crash.
